Sometimes it’s tricky for the casual fan to see how good a defender is. Other times, it’s right in your face. Or in James Harden’s face.

Late in Denver’s victory Wednesday night in Houston, Nuggets swingman Andre Iguodala positioned himself so perfectly that he stuffed a Harden jump shot attempt.

Much was made about the offense of Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried in the road win, but Iguodala’s defense was paramount.

Iguodala spent much of the game defending Harden, an explosive shooting guard who finished with 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting (including 0-for-5 from 3-point range).

“The way he attacks, you really have to be alert at all times,” Iguodala said. “The biggest thing is that we have to be proactive and not reactive to what he’s about to do. He is very good on the pick-and-roll and we adjusted on that tonight but overall it was a very good team effort.”

And yes, it was a team effort, which pleased coach George Karl.

“We wanted to put two defenders on Harden and try to never give him gaps,” Karl said. “Early in the game he had some fast-break opportunities and we were able to get some turnovers.

“I thought Kenneth (Faried) was very aware of where he was at all times. We just wanted to put two guys on him at all times.”

Foul shooting, indeed. Only one team in the NBA is worse at making free throws than Denver. That’s the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Nuggets, through five games, have shot a ghastly 64.4 percent from the foul line.

Traditionally, backcourt players are better foul shooters. That’s not the case with the Nuggets’ backcourt starters. Iguodala is shooting 69 percent, while Ty Lawson is shooting 56 percent. He missed all four attempts on Wednesday.

Benjamin Hochman was a sports columnist for The Denver Post until August 2015 before leaving for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, his hometown newspaper. Hochman previously worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for its Hurricane Katrina coverage. Hochman wrote the Katrina-themed book “Fourth and New Orleans,” published in 2007.

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